I don't discuss Apple rumors very often on iPhone J.D. You never know if they are real or just made up, and even if they were once real, you never know if Apple changed its mind. Of course, sometimes a rumor becomes so widespread that you cannot help but think it is true, such as the rumor that Apple will announce some sort of headset next month at its conference called WWDC. Apple hates rumors because it ruins the surprise and Apple's ability to control the narrative, so Apple takes many steps to discourage rumors and locate leakers. If you believe this story ... and I guess it could be false ... Ed Hardy of Cult of Mac reports that Apple was trying to identify a tipster called analyst941 who had leaked lots of information, including information about iOS 17 which will be announced at WWDC. Thus, Apple told different people at Apple that versions of its Final Cut Pro and Logic apps for Mac would be released for the iPad, and told different dates to different people who were suspected to be leakers. On May 2, the Twitter account for analyst941 announced that the release dates would be 2024 for Final Cut Pro and 2025 for Logic, and apparently Apple provided those specific (false) dates to a woman who works at Apple. Before long, Apple learned that her brother owned the analyst941 Twitter account, and she was fired. For more details on how this all unfolded, check out Ed Hardy's post. And now, the rest of the news of note from the past week, including the real release date for Final Cut Pro and Logic for the iPad:
- Final Cut Pro and Logic for the iPad will be released on May 23, 2023. My source for this tip has a reliable track record: it's a press release from Apple itself. If you are a musician who uses a Mac, even just an amateur one, you may already know how powerful Logic is. For me, after moving from iMovie to Final Cut Pro on my Mac many years ago, I'm super excited about having the power of Final Cut Pro on my iPad. You need to have a newer iPad with an M1 or M2 processor, and the cost will be $4.99/month or $49/year for each app.
- Jason Snell of Six Colors raises some questions and provides some answers about the upcoming Final Cut Pro and Logic apps for iPad.
- Normally, we don't know precisely when Apple will release software updates. But this week, Apple confirmed that iOS 16.5 will be released next week. Chance Miller of 9to5Mac writes about the primary new feature, a "new dedicated 'Sports' tab in the Apple News app, as well as other enhancements to make it easier to follow along with games." It also includes some bug fixes.
- Amazon is currently selling the Apple Pencil (2nd Generation) for only $89, which is a fantastic $40 savings. I use mine almost every day; as a lawyer, it is fantastic for taking handwritten notes, annotating briefs, highlighting cases that I download from Westlaw, and so much more. This second generation of the Pencil works with iPad Pro models introduced in 2018 and later, the iPad Air released in 2020 and later, and the iPad mini released in 2021.
- I mentioned last week that Apple and Google will work together to develop an industry standard to reduce the risk of devices like an AirPod being used for stalking. In an article for TidBITS, Glenn Fleishman provides tons of details on what is planned.
- Griffin Jones of Cult of Mac identifies some features of Apple's Maps app that you might not have known about.
- If you have the Google Nest Thermostat that was released in 2020—only that model, not the popular earlier versions—Ben Schoon of 9to5Google reports that Google is now rolling out an update to give that thermostat the ability to work with the Matter standard. And that means that it also works with Apple's HomeKit technology, so you can see and adjust the temperature on that model of the Nest product using Apple's Home app for the first time.
- Chance Miller of 9to5Mac reports that bank robbers stole $1.1 million from a Brinks armored truck. However, Brinks had hidden AirTags in some of the money bins, and as a result, Brinks was able to track the criminals to their home, where they were subsequently arrested by the police.
- Miller also reports on a woman who was staying in a hotel room on a business trip when she felt pain to her chest and then collapsed to the floor. She was eventually able to text a friend, who rushed to the room and then called 911, but it turns out that an ambulance was already on the way because of the Apple Watch's fall detection feature.
- Similarly, David Schuman of CBS News reports that a man in Minnesota was hit by a car as he was in front of his own house. Fortunately, he was wearing an Apple Watch, which noticed that he fell and automatically called 911 and texted his wife and kids. After the experience, the man sent an email to Apple CEO Tim Cook, and Cook responded to wish him a speedy recovery.
- If you need help identifying that classical song that begins "Da Da Da DAH," Joe Rossignol reports that the Shazam app was updated this week to support Apple Music Classical on the iPhone.
- If you use the Ivory app for Mastodon, it received some significant updates this week, as explained by Filipe Espósito of 9to5Mac.
- If you enjoyed watching Season 1 of the SciFi thriller Foundation on Apple TV+, Apple announced this week that the second season starts on July 14 and released this trailer.
- Oliver Haslam of iMore reports that Silo on Apple TV+ is at the top of the streaming charts. I've been watching it, and so far I love it. (By the way: #8 on that list is The Diplomat, a Netflix series starring Keri Russell, and it is also excellent.)
- Mariella Moon of Engadget reports that Disney announced this week that it will merge its Disney+ and Hulu apps later this year. That doesn't make much sense to me because I think of them as different services with different offerings.
- And finally, every year since 2016, Apple has released a Pride Edition band for the Apple Watch to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community. Proceeds benefit a number of advocacy organizations, so you can feel good about buying them, but I've always been a fan and came close to buying them many times in large party just because they are always colorful and fun. This week, Apple released the 2023 Pride Edition band, along with a special watch face that complements the band. Apple says that "the new Sport Band design showcases the original pride flag rainbow colors and five others — black and brown symbolize Black and Latin communities, in addition to those who have passed away from or are living with HIV/AIDS, while light blue, pink, and white represent transgender and nonbinary individuals." You can think of all of those things when you look at the band, but for me, the bold design reminds me of a birthday party, and I'm sure that it will appeal to many folks for that reason: